Water main break floods San Marcos intersection, snarls traffic

SAN MARCOS -- A ruptured water main opened a 30-foot-wide
sinkhole in the center of one of the city's busiest intersections
Thursday afternoon, flooding the road and snarling traffic for
hours.

As a result, the westbound lanes of San Marcos Boulevard at
Acacia Drive and Avenida De Las Rosas will be closed until late
this afternoon, said David Jensen, a contractor with the Carlsbad
Water District. The eastbound lanes opened at 4 p.m. Thursday.

"Optimistically it (westbound lanes) will be open tomorrow
afternoon to tomorrow evening," Jensen said Thursday.

Jensen suggested that motorists who use heavily traveled Palomar
Airport Road into and out of San Marcos take Highway 78
instead.

On Thursday, drivers waited, many patiently, some impatiently,
as emergency workers closed San Marcos Boulevard from Rancho Santa
Fe Road in San Marcos to Business Park Road in Vista after the
27-inch pipe broke at 2:15 p.m. Traffic was backed up for hours in
both cities and neighboring Carlsbad.

As water shot out of the 6-foot-deep hole to nearly the height
of nearby traffic lights, motorists who were already inside the
closed section of the road were asked to make U-turns or take
alternate routes.

"We've never seen anything like this before," said Chris
Bozorth, 14, who lives near the intersection.

Jim Ball, Carlsbad's public works director, said he was not
certain what caused the pipe, which is operated by the Carlsbad
Water District, to burst. But he said water service to San Marcos
and Carlsbad customers was not disrupted during the incident
because alternate pipelines were used.

"No one lost water," Ball said, adding he was not certain how
much water came out of the broken pipe.

During the incident, water officials shut down distribution
water pipelines that run off the broken line to isolate the leak
and prevent service interruption, said Dennis Lamb, director of
engineering and operations for the Vallecitos Water District.

The transmission pipe, which draws water from the San Diego
County Water Authority's aqueduct, distributes water to smaller
pipes that carry potable water to households and businesses.

Corrosion and movement of a pipe's joints are some factors that
may cause pipes to break, Lamb said.

Prior to the sinkhole opening up, a torrent of water washed dirt
from under the intersection and then blasted large chunks of
asphalt out of the ground. Gushing water flowed uphill to the iron
gates of Las Brisas Pacifica, a retirement community that flanks
the intersection.

"I can't believe how it blew some of these chunks (of asphalt)
around," said Las Brisas resident Wayne Gordon, 81.

Gordon said he has seen traffic accidents at the intersection,
but never a water main break of this nature during his 10 years of
living in the area.

A large crowd of spectators gathered around the intersection to
watch water shooting out of the ground up and to see crews in
fluorescent orange vests pump water out of the sinkhole, when the
geyser subsided.

"It's crazy," said Chris Henry, 12, who lives near the
intersection. "I hope it (the water) was not going into our
neighborhood."

Meanwhile, motorists caught near the intersection during the
break had to wait up to 30 minutes to make U-turns.

"Maybe if I had somewhere (important) to go, I would probably be
pissed," said Rob Royola, as he sat patiently inside his BMW
convertible.

Sheriff's Deputy Nick Maryn said the rerouting of traffic was
orderly and that no accidents or injuries occurred during the
incident.